Will you still be able to do your current job when you are close to retirement?

[alwaysstressed]

I work a pretty physical job that I've done all my life, im not trained or skilled in anything else.
I am 42 and I am a dog groomer and all the bending and lifting and being on my feet all day is already taking its toll on my body and I really don't think I'll be able to do this when im say 60-65, but what will I do? This is all I know.

Does anyone else have physical jobs that you just can't see yourself managing to do when you're older?

I’m a crit care nurse, just turned 58. I was physically fit (long time runner and gym goer for years) until I got long Covid which has put an end to that for the moment. I’ve taken flexi retirement so drastically cut my hours. Am just about managing (job is physically and mentally challenging) but will have to work until 67 as my NHS pension just isn’t enough.

@FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain Thats really interesting to hear I hadn't really thought about that, maybe a possibility thanks

I've only been retired for two years and yes, I was perfectly capable of teaching the full secondary range but at 67 with 43 years of teaching behind felt I'd had enough of the working full stop. I should say I taught in Victoria since the mid-00s, and can well imagine the same work in the UK would be more taxing.

I went part-time for the last two years and feel this is significant.

I miss the teaching but not the piles of marking. I still tutor.

Yes.
I am close to retirement age, and I know that my skillset is still very much valued where I work.

I am also not ready to retire.

I know my dad continued to work full time as a heavy goods mechanic- very physical work until 65 and my friends dad was working full time as a plasterer until he was 70. So it is possible for many to continue to do heavy physical work throughout their 60s.

Although I guess as men they didn't have the menopause to deal with.

I could carry on with my job to late 60s I think provided I continue with reasonable health. It's partially desk work, but I also often walk 10k steps and/or work in difficult to access spaces, not every day tho.

I'm 63 so yes. Planning on retiring next year. Scientific software development.
While there's still lots I can do - some of which the younger folk can't - I work part time and think I'd find concentrating for a full day taxing. I can't keep up with all the new stuff though partly that's down to there being a massive disruptive change due to the upsurge in machine learning methods.

Definitely not, I'm struggling now and I'm nearing 30! Hoping to retrain though

Perhaps, but you sound like you're in a pretty fortunate position (which I'm sure you've worked hard to get yourself into) of working a very short day. It's much harder to exercise to that extent when you're out the house 8-6 (which I'd consider fairly standard) and looking after children around that.

I will, but a couple of people I know who are doing more physical jobs (different to each other) are retraining now, in their late 40s/early 50s - one to a job that is a less active version of the job she's doing at the moment, the other into something completely different.

Totally agree, I'm already on state pension but still do some hours as HCP in acute hospital which is physical hands on. There's a health care assistant I know in her 70s still doing it. I think the physical nature of the work keeps you fit, like going to the gym but more useful and with the added benefit that you get paid for it!

I suppose I am close to retirement, with only 4 years to go. I'm a support worker in a residential home for children with disabilities. I can manage the physical aspects of the job: lots of bending stretching, sitting down & getting up again, plus joining the young people in things they want to do, such as roller skating, trampolining, swimming etc. As a pp says, I think it helps keep me physically fit. I have recently got a bit worried about my memory though, finding myself thinking, "Now where did I put that X?" Or going into a cupboard & thinking "What was it I wanted from in here?" Hence I might not manage the mental demands. So far younger colleagues have helped me out with suggestions and searches. As a result, I have become more mindful of what I'm doing & try if possible to complete one task before starting another. I don't wish to be seen as a weak link. One of my colleagues is 70, but I notice that he spends a lot of time in the office doing admin tasks & is slow at completing things in general.

I used to be a secondary school teacher. There is no way on earth I could have continued doing that job to the age of 67.

True enough, but when I did work those hours I ran in my lunch hour or home from the station. At the moment I don’t take a lunch break. I do go to the office every day though, so out longer than 9-3.30

I am lucky as I like exercise and was a sporty kid. I’ve been running for 30+ years. Kids in a buggy, 60 hour weeks. I run. In fact the year I ran my first marathon I was commuting the furthest. I didn’t have kids though.

My main point is that doing more is important, not less, but pissing with rain and miserable, it’s been a tough year to be a runner.

I'm a speech therapist so I should be able to. The general stress of all jobs does get to me though, plus the detail of teasing apart someone's language problem.. Just got up at 5 and did 90 minutes work because my to do list was keeping me awake. Hoping to go part time at 60 - should be very possible as ds will be through university by then and earning with any luck.

My business is a desk job so no problems physically, but starting to struggle mentally at 60 years old. Starting to forget things which means I’m having to make more notes, to do lists, reminder systems etc that I never needed as much before. Also struggling with complex issues as don’t have the same concentration nor brain processing speed. I’m having to transition into different types of work, ie doing more routine basic stuff like payroll and bookkeeping and turning away from tax planning and management accounting. Should pay the bills until 67 and state pension kicks in but much lower income as it’s more of a bookkeepers job now rather than an accountant. Can’t risk mistakes so can’t do the more lucrative but more complex work anymore.

ironically, body is fine, probably best it’s ever been as I’ve lost a lot of weight over past 20 years and doing a lot more DIY around the house and garden, car maintenance, etc myself. Don’t use a gardener, decorators, car washes, anymore and just refroofed our sheds myself which is something I’d never have done before. Shame about the mind!

@MichaelFlatulence @Arabels

In theory I agree with you, unfortunately in practice it's not always that straightforward.

I remember some years ago when the fire service went on strike because the GLA was asking them to work until 65. I'm sorry but being a firefighter is incredibly hard work, plus it places you at increased risk of cancers, and many firefighters have to leave before the age of 60 because of injuries and stress on their joints.

I was married to a lifelong postal worker. Same with the problems they get with knee, back and foot injuries.

I hope to work full time as a tube worker until 60 and then part time after that. I have a heart issue and I have problems related to obesity, so I really need to get my weight under control...but aside that, I probably will work until 65 in some capacity.

Gosh I do hope so!

Had a chat with an older friend who gets her pension in May. She said she knows 7 people who did not live long enough to collect their pension!

I took this job Im in now with every intention of it being the last one - Im 60 this year and will have done a year by then - so 1 down 7 to go :)

Im a waitress in a very very busy seaside restaurant. A four hour shift will see me walk between 5 and 10 miles ( depending on how busy we are - NYD was 10 miles , a wet mid week day will be 5 ) carrying heavy plates and trays, cleaning tables, moving furniture, helping out with dish washing, sweeping floors, cleaning - just basically on the go for the full shift

Thing is, you have to keep active as you get older. I would probably seize up if I took on an office role again. Even if its been a hetic shift, I still walk the dog for another 2 miles and then perhaps go for another walk with my BF for another 3 to 5 miles. Right now Im off to give him his first walk of the day before I have to head in. DH will hopefully have him walked before I get home this afternoon and I will be free to go for a good walk with BF to get us set up for Park Run tomorrow morning.

DH is 62 and is a builder.Hes only PT now himself doing just 3 or 4 days. He's still up and down scaffolds and ladders. Sure we both have aches and pains but we both cant see ourselves sat at home so we both carry on working

I have retired early because I planned for it from a very young age, from first proper job at 21 age, which is 36 years ago. I could have still done my job to state pension age as it was at a desk and involved lots of data crunching and physically I probably only risked RSI. When it comes to physical activity I’m in to hiking. I’m actually on holiday at the moment it’s a mixture of hiking and touring. I retired at 55.

I'm mid-50s, no chance of retiring for years.
My job (in higher education) is mainly desk based (with the occasional wander around, in person meeting etc).
So physically shouldn't be a problem, but mentally I'm not sure I'll be up to it in another 5 years or so. It's the stresses of the job + having to constantly strive for 'more', 'better' 'innovation' etc. (But no additional resources).
I find it increasingly difficult to appear as if I am enthusiastic.
I have to work in the office 3 days a week too, which means being out of the house from 6am to 7pm which I am finding exhausting.

I think it depends on your health and outlook. I'm 57, have two jobs -

Customer Advisor in a fast paced store, lots of stairs, every single second you have to be doing something if not with a customer, ie getting stock from upstairs for a colleague on till, date checking, putting stock out (latter two means lots of bending}, carrying heavy boxes around. No chairs to sit down and we average 8,000-10,000 steps a day. A couple of my full-time colleagues have managed to carry on working despite needing knee surgery and a hip replacement, both of which are primarily on ops, ie moving delivery stock to each floor, putting out, tidying.

My other job is a mid-day supervisor - again fast paced - over 400 children pass through lunch hall in an hour, so we're rushing around helping them, clean tables, move plates etc to kitchen for washing, on top of which we average about nine tables and 55 chairs to put away and sweeping all in that time.

I do find them tiring, especially when working a full day, but am more than capable of keeping up with younger members of staff.

I’m a nurse too in my 40s and the long shifts are now taking their toll.
I really don’t know how I will do it in another 20years. Wish we could do early, lates and nights instead on long all day shifts. I think a normal 8 hour day is much more manageable not sure why they think nurses should work such long hours on our feet all day. I don’t know what else I would do though.